Outsiderness is an affectation, nothing more.
On Wed, Dec 2, 2020, at 9:20 AM, uǝlƃ ↙↙↙ wrote: > The "in our lives" part *should* have given my meaning. Obviously it > did not. Whatever. > > But one who hooks their identity to their outsider-ness, then complains > about non-outsiders may not be *technically* guilty of ethnocentrism. > But that smacks of sophistry. All we need do is look at the "Revenge of > the Nerds" series and the rise of the modern "nerd culture" to see > that. You are only as outsider as you *choose* to be. We can choose not > to listen to those around us. Not to see them as fellow outsiders. Or > we can *pretend* that we're the select elite with special feelings of > outsider-ness ... persecution complex? > > The reality is we all feel that way *most* of the time. This is the > primary insight from social media. All we see in posts from > "influencers" are the views from their "good side" ... sucking in their > bellies on the beach in Belize ... adhering to their fad diet ... > smiling ... What we DON'T see is selfies of them after downing a whole > bag of cookies because their life is totally empty and they're about to > commit suicide. > > We all *feel* like outsiders. That's part of the modern condition. And > it's very sad that many of us lack the empathy to see through the > mirage. > > As to the wak culture I feel most comfortable in, that's the metal > [sub]culture. Our flags and common dress are well known, tend toward > earthy colors, particularly black. Satanic imagery. Particular ways of > dancing. Tests of "street cred" by mentioning obscure artists, > festivals, events, or styles (like downtuning). Etc. That this culture > is *viewed* as wacko was evidenced by the "Satanic Panic" of the '80s > and '90s and continues today in some ways. We've clawed our way to > respectability over time as a sibling to other geek/outsider > [sub]cultures. As for my own outsider-ness, I still don't fit that > well, even there. One fellow member gave me the "side eye" when I told > him I had switched from math rock and industrial to psytrance as my > background music for programming grooves. > > On 12/2/20 7:08 AM, Prof David West wrote: > > My original cite: > > > > /"what many of us purport to *want* ... common ground with which to have a > > discussion with the right wing wackos in our lives."/ > > > > I took /"the right wing wackos in our lives"/ as a reference to a subset of > > the body of Trump supporters, and more specifically the 74 million who > > voted for him, that we happen to be in contact with. I think that is > > consistent with comments in various threads about talking with / trying to > > understand Trumpists. Nick's and Marcus' responses in this thread would > > seem to affirm my reading of the referent. In that case, I stand by my > > remarks. > > > > It is quite possible that I was wrong. Your comments suggest that I was. > > Perhaps you literally meant to reference a group "Wackos," a subset of whom > > are "right wing" (without any implication that "right wing" within the > > wacko group have any correlation with right wing in a US political > > context), and the subset of them who are in our lives. > > > > If this is the case, then nothing I said pertains to Wackos or the Wacko > > culture. You would certainly be correct in asserting that I do not > > understand that culture, as I am unaware of the group, qua group, itself. > > > > However, I am the consummate outsider, identifying with no group nor > > culture and therefore can be guilty of egocentricsm, but never > > ethnocentrism. > > > > An ethnography of the Wacko culture would be an interesting project. As a > > self-professed, flag possessing, member of that culture, could you provide > > some pointers to the commonly accepted hallmarks of a culture: shared world > > view, shared language, shared values, shared customs/behaviors, shared > > modes of dress, definitions of kinship (blood or virtual), shared > > technology, etc.? > > -- > ↙↙↙ uǝlƃ > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
